Chapter 4 Summary

In Chapter 4, Freud first acknowledges that he must not be so foolish as to generalize that there is only one kind of dream, the wish-fulfillment dream, for he would be met with much resistance by his critics. Interpreting dreams as wish-fulfillment theory is not a new idea, he admits, mentioning those writers who have discussed this type of dream before him. Besides, he notes, were he to insist that this kind of dream is the only kind, his theory would be easily refuted. Freud further makes the point that many recurring dreams are strictly painful dreams and appear to have nothing to do with wish fulfillment.

The author continues by citing examples of methods and philosophies that show the equally prevalent existence of the next type of dream: he quotes Eduard von Hartman, tells about the two ladies who have calculated the preponderance of painful or distressing...